#free school meal

The Hawaiʻi State Department of Education is encouraging families who have experienced a change in income due to furloughs or job losses from the federal government shutdown to apply for free or reduced-price meal benefits for the current school year.

The lawmakers’ request for would help to alleviate burdens, providing thousands of students across the island with access to healthy, nutritious meals at no cost to their families as they deal with post-wildfire impacts.